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Comment by radicaldreamer | Hacker News Reader

For recurring revenue… selling only the fan, you get one sale and you’re done. Selling the fan but with a filter unit, some subset of customers will replace the filter every 6 months as “recommended” and you have recurring revenue on that fan forever.

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Dyson filters aren't consumables. You wash them out and reuse them.

I'm pretty sure there aren't any reusable HEPA filters regardless of vendor.

Lots of units will have a washable pre-filter, but that's to pick up big stuff and extend the life of the disposable part.

Dyson suggests replacing the filter every year but you could vacuum off the dust on the outside. Their vacuum cleaner filters are washable which is probably where OP got the idea.

Are they? We have a modern unit (with the 2 stage filter), adn they send a notification when you have to buy a new one, for $99 CAD

Wow, they have a payment plan for the filters.

https://www.dyson.com/support/journey/tools/970341-01

The company famed for creating bagless vacuums added a 'bag' to a product that doesn't necessarily need it?

Dyson's stance on Brexit makes ever more sense... .

Having just gone back to a bagged vacuum, I genuinely wonder why people ever accepted bag-less vacuums in the first place.

Aside from the “empty the canister out and watch all fine dust float back into my house” issue, vacuum bags function as one massive filter. It’s not physically possible to build a filter into a bag less vacuum that approaches the size or capability of the vacuum bag itself.

Bags are a razors + blades model. The vacuum is $100 but the bags are $30 for 3 if you buy the branded bags. Plus the suction on a bagged vacuum measurably decreases before the bag is full.

These days I have a roomba and a Dyson cordless stick vacuum for occasional use.

Bagless vacuums will typically have a pleated filter for the fine particles. Pleating expands the surface area.

Bagged vacuums also typically have pleated filters at the air outlet, after the bag.

Water works really well as a filter.

On a vaccum they are washable, on my tower fan they're replacable.

I ordered some from china (probably fake) for $30 rather than the $100 dyson wanted.

Then I imagine part of it is the fact that people are willing to spend $x on a fan (of any sort) and $x+y on an air purifier.

If an air purifier is generally accepted to be a higher-price item, then making a fan into one with some sort of filter helps justify the higher price.

(Just speculation, though. I have no info about their design or marketing decisions.)

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